Eat this instead of this
While some people opt for this eating life style as a personal preference, is known that every time more people are diagnosed with Coeliac Disease or in some cases Gluten Intolerance, IBD, Chron dosease, Colitis, or other conditions of the gut, after a diagnosis what happens next is to follow a Gluten Free diet, which is absolutely necessary.
However I want to point that not always the nutritionists, dietitians or medical system give the right advices and here is where you need to be cautious.
Firstly you need to know the basics of the real gluten free diet which is: stick to the Naturally gluten free food please note that I am saying food not products… here is the difference. Gluten free Food; is the naturally gluten free protein, carbohydrates, fiber and healthy fats… you do not need more than this groups of food to get heal and keep healthy.
What is the naturally Gluten Free Food? In the group of proteins include chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, legumins like beans and lentils, then nuts like almonds, etc. For carbohydrates, potatoes in general sweet, white or pink, also rice. Consuming fiber is crucial for good health of the gut and here find vegetables, salad vegetables and fruit, which do not really need to mention specific ones. Then healthy fats like avocado, sardines or blue fish which is anti-inflammatory as is rich in omega 3, and nuts.
What is wrong with the Gluten Free Produces then? I dare to say they are “unhealthy” because is a “product” already means has been processed some way or other. You may be told what is the food you “should eat” from now and a list of flours like: potato starch, tapioca starch, rice flour and corn flours are also used as starches, and of course these are mostly present in all the gluten free products such as breads, sauces, cereals, pasta, flours, sausages, cakes, biscuits etc. not mentioning all the unhealthy additives like emulsifiers, added flavours, added sugar, added salt, preservatives, and more ingredients to “create” flavour, volume and make them last longer in the shop shields. Starches are dead food, not containing nutritional value whatsoever.
Luckily in the healthy side natural gluten free you will find a bigger variety of flours, coconut flour is one of my favorites and actually any nut can make a good flour to bake offering you many more options like almond flour, hazelnut flour, etc besides also seeds can be made in flours like amaranth flour and quinoa which are from the same family, flax seed flour, and the list go on, and the best part is that they all are charged with nutrients.
Be aware that you will be given a lot of information and it could sound like that buying gluten free products from the shops is the healthy one for you. You need to know the truth, those starches are in deed unhealthy for everybody and certainly specially for those already diagnosed with any autoimmune disease like coeliac disease.
I remember when I bought a big amount of different flours also xanthan gum, yeast, gluten free baking powder and everything they sell spending a lot of money because I was told, in other words, that “they were healthy!” that was the impression I got, so I could feed my son with healthy food!! I was there looking for recipes of how to make gluten free pizza, gluten free cakes, and more because at the end homemade are better than the ones in the shop. Until I realised and thought, why do I have to buy this and give my son and all my family this flours? I wanted to make tasty food and mainly healthy so, then I had decided to make at home all the baking instated of buying this way it would be more natural… but, wait a moment, how come all that is healthier than vegetables, and real food? why they don’t put emphasis in the consume of vegetables, and real food? but the focus is mostly on brands available in the market? Thankfully I had started to searching and learn the most I could about health and coeliac disease, and this took me to learn so much about the gut, the nutrition, real food, inflammation, anti-inflammatory diet, and so many factors involved for a good health but… guess what? the gluten free flour starches were anywhere, in fact I learned how starches contribute to increase glucose, visceral fat, making the children and adults more prompt to get diabetes type 1 or type 2.
I remember I joined some facebook groups for coeliac disease, and one of them was the parents of children with coeliac, it was almost scary to see how some mothers of children who have coeliac commenting between them how their children got diagnosed with diabetes type 1 after the diagnosis or coeliac disease, like if it was something inevitable, something natural to get that second diagnosis, but it does not have to be this way for your child or for you, for any one. I feel for those poor children, for the mothers who want from their hearts to do all possible to get their children healthy but are deceived, believing this products are “okay or good” when they are harmful. Please do not get me wrong. I myself have baked cakes here at home, but now every time more I have come to realise the bad effect in health.
What I do now honestly? I do not give starches to my son anymore not even homemade cakes with those flours, although I will not lie, once in a while but very rarely I bake some scones or yorkshire puddings for my husband and I eat too, but only very rarely, in my case I do have to avoid them yes or yes.
Yes you can still enjoy a delicious bake with naturally gluten free ingredients
What I make or bake for my son? well, is a bless he enjoys his vegetables and fruits, and protein, he really does, since toddler never has liked the ice cream, or other desserts too much, but of course he enjoys cakes, biscuits, so now I use almond flour, coconut flour, amaranth flour, etc. Remember the tasty flavour is not in war with the healthy ingredients and baking is a great opportunity to do something we both enjoy, and opportunity to learn some math, life skills, and just have a great time together.
Observe, try and search. You have to observe if some food cause bloating, pain or any symptom like a rash, foggy brain, be very vigilant with your children’s health because not all the symptoms will be the same in all the people. If you try an ingredient and you see that he/she gets bloated, or so, stop giving the thing you consider can cause it, so you can detect any allergy or intolerance. Rotate the food, the diet has to be variate of colours, vegetables, protein, do not marry one fruit or any food/ingredient in particular, my son really love bananas but I encourage him to try more and by consequence now he loves mangoes, pineapple, papaya and other fruits.
